PLAYING BAGPIPES DAILY CAN BE FATAL: SCIENTISTS

Playing the bagpipes could prove fatal, scientists have warned, after a man died from breathing in mould and fungus trapped in his instrument. Doctors in Manchester have identified the condition as “bagpipe lung” following the death of a 61-year-old man from chronic inflammatory lung condition.

When the unnamed man was diagnosed in 2009, doctors were puzzled because his house contained no mould and he had never smoked.

However, he played the bagpipes daily, and samples from inside the bagpipes contained six types of mould and fungi. Moist conditions inside the bag allowed mould and fungi to grow. Despite treatment, the man died recently and a post-mortem examination revealed extensive lung damage.